The industry-standard Cisco Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) Gigabit Interface Converter is a hot-swappable input/output device that plugs into a Gigabit Ethernet port or slot, linking the port with the network.

The 1000BASE-ZX SFP operates on standard single-mode fiber-optic link spans of up to approximately 70 km in length. The SFP provides an optical link budget of 23 dB, but the precise link span length depends on multiple factors such as fiber quality, number of splices, and connectors.